Nutella Had A Way More Enticing Name In The 1950s

Whether you smear it on bread, pancakes, waffles, or crepes or just devour spoonfuls straight out of the jar, Nutella, the chocolate hazelnut spread that launched in Italy in 1964, has grown to become a popular sweet indulgence in America and across the globe. According to Insider, a jar of Nutella sells every 2.5 seconds and the company uses a whopping 25% of the world's hazelnut supply.

There is even a World Nutella Day that has been annually observed on February 5 since its inception in 2007. A decade later, the first ever Nutella Cafe opened up in Chicago in 2017, offering a chance for Nutella fans to order a variety of dishes draped in their favorite creamy topping. Although Nutella is the brand we now generally associate with chocolate hazelnut spread, much in the same way Kleenex became synonymous with tissues, the product didn't always go by this moniker. Nutella actually had a way more enticing name in the 1950s.

There are a number of different origin stories and myths surrounding the chocolate hazelnut spread that would eventually be called Nutella, many of which involve war and rationing chocolate, from the time of Napoleon to World War II (via Thrillist). In 1946, during one of those lean periods of chocolate rationing post WWII, an Italian pastry chef named Pietro Ferrero created a kind of paste confection out of hazelnuts, what little cocoa was available at the time, and sugar that he molded into a packaged loaf which could be sliced and put on bread that he named Gianduja. It was a bit pricey for the common man, and didn't spread well, so he tweaked the recipe to convert it into a creamier, more spreadable form (per Serious Eats).

This more affordable and accessible chocolate hazelnut spread, introduced in 1951, came in a jar and would initially be dubbed "La Supercrema," a sexy name indeed. The product was easier to spread and La Supercrema proved a hit in Italy. Eventually the Ferrero family would set their sights beyond Italian borders. In 1964, when Ferrero's son Michele decided to manufacture La Supercrema on a bigger scale, he ditched the name and rebranded as Nutella, according to nutella.com.